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Opinion - Can Republicans Reconcile Their Factions?

By Dr. Robert Moore, The Raleigh Telegram

Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2010

RALEIGH - In this opinion piece, Raleigh Telegram columnist Dr. Robert Moore takes a look at how the Republican Party is fragmented and what their strategies may include over the short run as they try to pull together different factions.

Can The Republicans

Reconcile Their Factions?

By Dr. Robert Moore

The Republican Party’s health is in the eye of the beholder.

On the positive side, Michael J. Petrilli of Stanford University’s conservative Hoover Institution describes the “conventional wisdom” of a “resurgent” party which is on a roll.

He notes that many believe its recent statewide victories, “an energized ‘tea party’ base and an administration overreaching on health care, climate change and spending” could produce major Republican gains in the fall elections.

Time’s political analyst Joe Klein writes that he has “been a fan of a great many Republican Party initiatives in the past.” However, he claims today’s party is “paralyzed by cynicism and hypocrisy” and is focused on “tactical political gain to the exclusion of all else.”

Klein cites the demise of a “bipartisan commission to reduce the deficit that Republicans had been clamoring for.” But, once it was supported by President Obama and on the verge of passing, it was “blocked by a group of Republican Senators who had supported or sponsored” the legislation.

Given such conflicting assessments, a closer look at recent events is instructive.

THE MASSACHUSETTS MIRACLE

The facts are stunning. On November 4, 2008, President Obama carried Massachusetts by 26 points.

Just over a year later, Scott Brown, a little known Republican State Senator, won the U. S. Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy from 1962 until his death in 2009.

The chance to take “the Kennedy seat” proved irresistible to conservative activists. They poured money and seasoned operatives into the state despite Brown’s support for abortion rights.

Erick Erickson, editor of RedState.com, acknowledged that Brown “is the kind of Republican who will give conservatives heartburn, but it’s better than the other side.”

By winning with a solid margin of 52% to 47%, Brown became the latest hero of a Republican resurgence. Only a few months before Virginia and New Jersey, bellwether states in Obama’s victory, elected Republican governors.

These triumphs reflect a changing pattern among those who had previously supported Obama -- many first-time voters (especially the young and African-Americans) did not turn up at the polls and independents voted decisively Republican.

All three winners de-emphasized their previous stands on social issues in favor of economic concerns.

Saul Anuzis, former chair of the Michigan Republican Party observed, “Conservatives can win when they emphasize the right things” and don’t allow others “to paint all conservatives as fire-breathing cavemen.”

Mississippi governor and head of the Republican Governors Association, Haley Barbour, declared that the Virginia race was decided because the winner (Robert F. McDonnell) “focused on the issues that are on people’s minds: job, taxes.”

In McDonnell’s case, his history of opposition to abortion and gay rights seemed to free him to focus on economics with the knowledge that his conservative base did not need reassurance.

Barbour, a gifted tactician, further noted, “I don’t think there are a lot of governors who are more conservative than I am. But I try to run campaigns on what people are interested in.”

The strong pragmatic undercurrent in these statements is striking. There are, however, significant rumblings beneath the surface of recent successes. It is unlikely that such tilts to the center and the courting of moderate voters will go down well with those in a party base who are passionate about the national debt and social issues.

TEA PARTY MOVEMENT

Hundreds of thousands in the Republican base are increasingly identified with various Tea Party groups. Their activities have captured the attention of the media, especially cable news shows.

According to some polls, they are viewed more favorably than either major party.

Tea Partiers take their name from the colonist tax revolt of 1773 and their activities are driven by anti-establishment anger.

Three of their most prominent champions are conservative icons: Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck of Fox News.

Analyst Jerry Markon notes that the movement’s power resides in a network of “loosely affiliated blogs, radio hosts, ‘tea party’ organizers” and well funded Washington, D.C. organizations.

The network is dedicated “to fueling opposition to President Obama and, sometimes, to Republicans.”

Conservative commentator David Brooks believes the movement is “defined by what they are against. They are against the concentrated power of the educated class.”

Tea Partiers are convinced that “big government, big business, big media and the affluent professionals are merging to form self-serving oligarchy.”

They feel such privileged elites are responsible for “bloated government, unsustainable deficits, high taxes and intrusive regulation.”

One of the most intriguing dramas in contemporary American politics is whether moderate Republicans will be able to work with Tea Party activists and vice versa. David Barstow of The New York Times reported earlier this week on a two month study which finds that Tea Parties and allied groups “are not content with simply making the Republican Party more conservative.”

Their goal is “a political reordering that would drastically shrink the federal government and sweep away not just Mr. Obama, but much of the Republican establishment, starting with Senator John McCain.”

In Nashville on February 6, Sarah Palin told the inaugural National Tea Party Convention, “You’ve got both party machines running scared.”

Her advice to her party’s machine: “The Republican Party would be really smart to start trying to absorb as much of the Tea Party movement as possible.”

BATTLING FOR THE PARTY’S SOUL

In addition to the Tea Party’s surprising battle for moderate Scott Brown in Massachusetts, other notable engagements include:

** New York’s 23rd Congressional District: Republican leaders passed over a conservative candidate in a 2009 special election. They chose a woman of moderate views thereby enraging many Tea Party groups.

The activists’ subsequent support for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman was so effective that the Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava dropped out which paved the way for a Democrat win. The seat had not been held by a Democrat for decades.

** Colorado U.S. Senate: Former lieutenant governor Jane Norton has been endorsed by John McCain and various state Republican leaders.

However, Tea Party insurgents view her as “the establishment candidate” and are working against her.

The bad blood between the activists and some Republican officials has caused Lesley Hollywood, leader of the Northern Colorado Tea Party, to complain that she and her group are “being played like pawns” by the party establishment who are guilty of “blatant hijacking of the Tea Party.”

** Arizona U. S. Senate: John McCain is in an volatile primary battle with an arch conservative former Republican congressman, J. D. Hayworth. He has responded by moving briskly to the right. McCain has attacked the bailout bill he voted for and taken more conservative stands on social issues such as gay rights.

Rob Haney, chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Party, which includes the senator’s hometown Phoenix, says, “J. D. is our great hope. ...McCain has been a thorn in our sides for years. A dagger in our backs, really.”

**Florida U.S. Senate: Charlie Crist, the state’s popular governor, has considerable crossover appeal among independents and Democrats but is fighting for his political life. Crist is seeking his party’s Senate nomination but is opposed by Marco Rubio, the former speaker of the Florida House. Rubio has widespread Tea Partier support. As reporter Mark Leibovich notes, conservatives see “Crist’s career as pockmarked with instances of consensus-seeking, deal-making and bipartisanship – three particularly vulgar notions to a simmering Tea Party movement.”

**Kentucky U. S. Senate: Rand Paul is a 47-year-old ophthalmologist from Bowling Green. He is challenging Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the Republican primary. Grayson’s mentor is U. S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell but this lineage has not been a problem for the Texas born son of anti-tax icon Congressman Ron Paul. Earlier this month, Rand was endorsed by Sarah Palin.

With Ron Paul’s son leading in the polls, the irony has not been lost on national Republican leaders. As political analyst Jason Horowitz notes, “Two years after his father was dismissed by the GOP as a distracting sideshow, Rand Paul’s candidacy is being observed as a bellwether for the direction of the party.”

HOW TO PROCEED?

From the perspective of conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, recent Republican victories such as Scott Brown’s in Massachusetts represent “a come-to-Jesus moment for the GOP.” Can the conservative base move beyond what columnist Charles Blow calls “fear-fueled anger.”

Anger, he contends is “not an idea. It’s not a plan ...not a vision for the future.”

Kathleen Parker asks, “What kind of party will it be?” Is the GOP tent “expanding to make room even for moderate, pro-choice candidates like Brown?”

Will the passionate social conservatives be able to work with those whose primary interest is conservative fiscal policy? Or, perhaps the real agenda will become that of a state party chairman Parker cites who admits – “A good Republican is a Republican who wins.”

A recent Washington Post- ABC News poll found that only 44 % of Americans had a favorable view of the Republican Party. The Democrats did only slightly better at 50%. But more that 70% disapproved of the job Congress is doing.

How Republicans respond to their unanticipated good fortune of recent months will go a long way in determining whether they move beyond being viewed as the Congressional “Party of Nope.”

Their road back to robust national power and influence is likely to be rocky and circuitous.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Robert H. Moore is a graduate of Davidson College and the University of North Carolina. After serving as an Army captain on the West Point staff and faculty, Senators John Stennis (D-MS) and Strom Thurmond (R-SC) appointed him as a consultant to the Armed Services Committee.

He subsequently worked with members of both parties. He has taught at the Universities of Wisconsin and Maryland and is coauthor of the award-winning Spreading the Risks (with Jack Bogardus) and School for Soldiers: West Point and the Profession of Arms (with Joseph Ellis).

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